Nicotin insecticide.



U ITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE,

GEORGE HENRY RICHARDS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

NICOTIN INSECTICIDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ZPatent No. 685,060, dated October22, 1901.

Application filed April 8, 1901. gerial No. 54,794. (No specimens.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HENRY RICH- ARDS, merchant, a subject of theKing of Great Britain, residing at 128 Southwark street,London,England,have invented a compound for use in horticulture or agriculture foreradicating insect life or mildew and the process of manufacture of thesaid compound, (for which I have made application for patent in GreatBritain, dated November 9, 1900, No. 20,194,) of which the following isa specification.

In the specification accompanying an application for patent made bymyself and filed concurrently with this application I described acompound for use in horticulture or agriculture for eradicating insectlife and mildew, the compound consisting of nicotin and salicylic acid,forming a salt, which was capable of being entirely volatilized by heat.Now although I have found this compound, as described in the aforesaidspecification, to very effectively answer the purposes therein statedand to be eminently advantageous for use in many places and on manyoccasions, yet in some cases I have found that a Want would be suppliedby the production of a compound of like nature-that is, a compoundcontaining nicotin and capable of being sold and used in solid form -ifsuch a compound could be easily manufactured and at the same time morecheaply produced than the compound comprising nicotin and salicylicacid, as before stated, even though such a cheaper compound were toleave a small amount of residual matter after volatilization by heat.With this object in view of supplying a compound easily and more cheaplymanufactured and one (with the exception of its leaving a residue aftervolatilization) which will as efliciently answer the purpose for whichit is produced I employ a compound consisting of nicotin and tartaricacid, producing a crystalline tetra-tartrate of nicotin, this being asolid salt, which I reduce to powder and mix with a proportion ofgum-camphor, the compound then being pressed into cakes or tablets. Thiscompound I have found to eifect its object in a sufficientlysatisfactory manner, and it has advantages in some respects beyond thesalicylate of nicotin, which I have described in my specification ofeven date with this, in that it is undoubtedly cheaper to manufacture.The addition of a proportion of camphor (gum-camphor) to thetetra-tartrate of nicotin is an important addition, because it aids orforms a medium in the carrying of the vapor produced by the heating ofthe compound, and it renders the vaporized tetra-t=artrate of nicotinvery much more efiective than it would be without this addition.Moreover,the addition of the gumcamphor not only aids in the effectiveaction of the fumigating compound, but it also serves to bind the drysolid salt and to render the cakes or tablets more convenient forcommercial purposes. 1

The practical manufacture of the compound is carried out by thefollowing process, the proportions of the nicotin given beingapproximate: To fifty pounds of nicotin I add ninety-three pounds oftartaric acid, the latter being dissolved by means of heat. The mixtureis then set aside to cool, and the crystals formed are drained ofi fromthe motherliquor, the said crystals being then dried and reduced topowder. I then add to this dry solid powdered salt (tetra-tartrate ofnicotin) a proportion of finely-powdered gumcamphor in the followingproportions: To two parts, by weight, of the powdered salt(tetratartrate of nicotin) I add one part, by weight, of the powdered gum-camphor. The mixture is then put into molds of convenient size andsubjected to pressure, and thus solid cakes or tablets are producedwhich hold together and are sufficiently strong to well withstandtransport and handling, the camphor serving, as aforesaid, not only as abinding agent, but as a vehicle for the transmission of the vapor whenthe compound is used. When this improved compound is placed into areceiver and heat applied, the mass melts and volatiliz'es, leaving buta small proportion of residue in the dish. The economy effected by theemployment of the constituents stated presents advantages which in manycases adapts the compound for use where the cost of the compounddescribed in the first part of this specification might interfere withits sale and use.

I am aware that tartrate of nicotin has been mentioned in writings uponchemistry, and I therefore do not claim tetra-tartrate of nicotin per 56as my invention; neither do I broadly claim compounds of nicotin andcamphor; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The process for preparing an improved solid compound for use inhorticulture or agriculture, for eradicating insect life and mildew,consisting in adding a proportion of about ninety-three pounds oftartaric acid to about fifty pounds of nicotin, dissolving the acid inthe nicotin by the application of heat, then allowing the liquid tocrystallize, draining 01f the mother-liquor, drying and powdering thecrystals and mixing the latter with about half its Weight ofgum-camphor, and

finally compressing the product into cakes or tablets, substantially asset forth.

2. An improved compound for use in horticulture or agriculture, foreradicating insect life or mildew, consistingof nicotin and tartaricacid forming a salt, together with camphor (gum-camphor,) the compoundbeing compressed into the form of solid cakes or tablets and capable ofvolatilization by heat with but little residue, substantially as setforth.

GEORGE HEN RY RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

GRIFFITH BREWER, W. W. lMARsHALL.

